Level indicator



March 1, 1932. M; w. M LAREN 1,847,844

LEVEL INDICATOR Filed March 7. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 4/4/6012;Md ar /r ATTORNEY March 1, 1932. M. w. MCLAREN LEVEL INDICATOR2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 7, 1929 WZW w n [M M Z M% Patented Mare 1,19:32 J

IALOOLM W. K0, 31035011! HEIGHTS, NEW YORK, ABBIGNOB '10 GARBONIQEQUIEMEN '1' CORPORATION, 01 NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORKimvnr. m'nroa'ron Application ma larch 7, 1m. sum in. $44,099.

This invention relates to improvements in level indicators and itsobject is to provide a sim le and efiective device which is arran to beactuated by the rise of material insi e of a tank or receptacle andwhich when actuated will be withdrawn from the interior of the tank orreceptacle to leave the walls thereof unobstructed.

A further object of the invention is to so arrange such an indicatorthat it wiil control any desired instrumentality such as a signal orvalves Other objects of the invention will appear in the foliowingspecification in which apparatus embodying the invention will bedescribed the novel, features of which will be pointed out in appendedciain'is.

The invention wiii be described in connection with the snow chamber andcompressor of a carbondionide soiidiiying machine. this happens to bethe first apparatus to which K have anpiied But it is in no senselimited cicular use.

Referring t e ings l is a sectionai side elevation of a icvei indicatorwhich is made acco to and embodies the invention. Some ofinstrumentaiities is which this device centrois are showndiagramniaticaiiy' this hgu'ire.

i ig. 2 is a sim showing them. in retracted position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional pian view of some of the parts shcwn in thepreceding figures the sectlon being taken on the .iine 3--3 of Fig. 1.;

Figs. 4i and 5 are transverse sections taken respectively on the linesand. 5-5 of Fi .i;

ig. 6 is sectionai eievation of a carbondioxlde soiidii'ying machineshowing two of the level indicators appiieol thereto;

Fig; 7 is a sectional plan view of the same apparatus taken on the hue7-7 of Fig. 6; an

Figs. 8 and 9 are respectivelya side elevation and a plan view of amodified form of one of the parts.

Iwill first describe the machine which is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7,which is taken from a copending application, Cole and backed up againstit to lock it.

' r view of same oi the parts iilustrated in McLaren; Serial No.279,641, filed May 22, 1928. It comprises a rectangular chamber formedby walls 10. An outer jacket is formed between the walls 10 and walls11, outside of which is a body of insulation 12. 55 Orifices 13 areprovided between the rectangular chamber and the outer 'acket.. A noszleis placed at 14 through w ich high pressure llquid CO is discharged andexpanded in the rectangular casing. w

15 is a lunger connected b a rod 16 with piston 17 in a cylinder 18. isplunger fits loosely in the chamberto permit gases to pass it as itdescends. I. 19 is a port above the piston 17 with which is connected apressure pipe in which is an eiectro-magneticaliy con trolled valve 20comprising a solenoid wind.- ing 21. A. similar port 22 is provided atthe lower end of the cylinder. 23 is a vent port in the lower part ofthe rectanguiar chat 17A is an indicator rod by means of the movement oithe piston 17 and the pi or 15 maybe observed.

The lower end of the rectangular chamber is arranged to be ciosed byahead 24 which is connected with a piston 25 in a cylinder This headruns in fined guides 27. Ports 28 and 29 are provided at the top andbottom of cylinder 26.

When the high pressure li uid CO ex ea pands some of it forms snow w ichaccumulates in the rectangular chamber. When a desired amount has beenformed, the piston 15 is forced down to compress it. It was dii ficultto ascertain when the accumulated snow as had'reached the desired levelin the chamber, and the improved level indicator described herein wasdevised to overcome this difiiculty.

Now referring to Figs. 1-5 it will be seen that a threaded cylindricalhousing 30 is esthrust through a hole in the wall 10 at the desiredlevel and screwed into an aligned threaded hole in the wall '11 andlocked in place by a'nut 31. Another nut 32 is screwed onto the housinafter which the insulatin jacket 12 may I e put in place, or replace ifit has been broken awa to permit the adjustment of nut 31. A ead 33 isscrewed onto the end of the housing and the nut 32 40 is a slidablecylindrical bushing 1ongitudinally slotted as at 41 to clear a detent 34which projects through the inner surface of the housing 30. 42 is a rodwhich passes through a stufiing box 35 formed in the head 33. Itsinner'end is bifurcated and connected by a transverse pin 43 with thebushing 40. A tripper 44 is pivotally connected with this bifurcated andof rod 42 by a pin 45. This is slotted as at 46 to clear the pin 43. Itsupper left hand end forms a pawl 47 for engagement with the detent 34and a tripper blade 48 is afiixed to its inner end. 49 is an indicatorknob or handle aflixed to the outer end of rod 40.

50 is a collar aflixed to the rod 42 and 51 is a spring interposedbetween this collar and the head 33. The collar has a depending lug 52which enters a slot 53 in a guide 54 extending from the head 33 to holdthe pawl 47 in alinement with detent 34. 55 is a collar afiixed to rod42 to limit its outward movement.

56 is a plate affixed to the lug 52 with its ends bent downwardly toengage a lever 57 of an electric switch 58 to turn current onto and offfrom any desired instrumentalities such, for example, as a lamp 59,. abell 60 or a solenoid winding such as 21.

It may be seen that when the rod is pushed inwardly the tripper blade48will assume the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 and that theengagement of pawl 47 with detent 34 will prevent the retraction ofslidable bushing 40 and the parts it carries. But when snow formed inthe rectangular chamber within the walls 10 reaches the tripper blade48, the latter will rise thereby releasing pawl 47 and permitting spring51 to move the parts back to the positions in which they are shown inFig. 2. Thus the tripper blade will be drawn back of the inner surfaceof the wall 10 thereby permitting the plunger 15 to move downwardly.

When the device is used with a carbon-dioxide solidifying machine it isdesirable to provide means to prevent the relatively movable parts fromfreezing together and in Fig. 1 an electric heating coil 30A is shownfor this purpose.

At the time the parts are retracted, the plate 56 will move switch lever57 to the posi- I tion indicated at 57A to light a lamp, ring a bell orto energize any desired electric cir- If the solenoid winding 21 iscontrolled by switch 58, it will open valve 20 and thus automaticallyinitiate the downward movement of the piston 17 and the plunger 15.

In Fig. 6 two of these level indicators are shown atdifierent levels.Obviously as many as desired may be provided.

In Figs. 8 and 9a float 48A is shown on the end of the tripper insteadof a blade. This arrangement is designed for use with liquids, and isadded to show that I do not intend to limit the invention to its usewith carbondioxide solidifying machine such as that described forillustrative purposes.

What I claim is:

1. A lever indicator comprising a member adapted to project through thewall of a re-v oeptacle, a pivotal support therefor, means including aspring arranged to move said support to retract the member from withinthe receptacle, and means for locking the su port a ainst movement bythe spring, said means eing releasable by movement of the member aboutits-pivot.

2. A level indicator comprising a member adapted to project through thewall of a receptacle, a pivotal support therefor, means including aspring arranged to move said support to retract the member from withinthe receptacle, and a pawl and detent for locking the support againstmovement by the spring, said pawl being releasable from the detent bymovement of the member about its pivot.

3. A level indicator comprising a member forming a pawl and having, aportion adapted to project through the wall of a receptacle, a slidablesupport, a transverse pivot connecting the member, and the support meansincluding a spring arranged to move the support to retract the memberfrom within the receptacle, and a detent with which said pawl engages tolock the support a ainst movement by the spring, said pawl dieindisengaged from the detent by movement 0% the member about the pivot.

4. A level indicator comprising a member forming a pawl and having aportion adapt ed to project through the wall of-a receptacle, a slidablesupport, a transverse pivot connecting the member and the support, meansincluding aspring arranged to move the support to retract the memberfrom within the receptacle, a detent in the path of movement of thepawl, and manual means for moving the support and the member against theaction of the spring into position for the pawl to engage the detent,said pawl being disengaged from the detent by movement of the memberabout the pivot.

5. A level indicator comprising a member adapted to project through thewall of a receptacle, means including a spring arranged to retract themember from within the receptacle, means for projecting the memberthrouglt the wall of the receptacle against the action of thespring,'means for holding the member in its projected position, saidmember being arranged to be moved b material within the receptacle torelease sai holding means, and an instrumentality actuated by saidretractive movement.

6. A level indicator comprising a member forming a pawl and having aportion adapted to project through the wall of a. receptacle, a slidablesupport, a transverse plvot Ian conneetin the member and the support,means inc uding a spring arranged to move the support to retract themember from within the receptacle, a 'detent with which said pawl engaes to lock the susport agpeinst in movementy the spring, sai pawldisengaged from the detent by movement 0 the member about'the pivot, andan instrumentality actuated by said retractive movement.

7. The combination of a rece tacle, a plunger movable therein, a level1ndicator comprising a member adapted to project through the wall of thereceptacle a pivotal support therefor, means including a spring arrangedto move said support to retract the member from within the receptacle,means 7 for locking the support against movement by the spring, saidmeans being releasable by movement of the member about its pivot, saidmember being movable by contact of material in the receptacle, means foractuating the plunger, and means controlled by the retractive movementof the member .for controlling said plunger actuating means.

8. The combination of a receptacle, a plunger movable therein, a levellndicator comprising a member forming a pawl and havmg a portion adaptedto project through the wall of thereceptacle, a slidable support, atransverse pivot connecting the member and the support, means includinga spring arranged to move the support to retract the member from withinthe receptacle,

and a detent with which said pawl engages to lock the support againstmovement by the s ring, said pawl being disengaged from the etent bymovement of the member about the pivot, means for actuating the plunger,and

means controlled by the retractive movement of the member forcontrolling said plunger actuating means.

I MALCOLM W. MOLAREN.

